Submitted by Judy Dirks for the PNW Board of Church & Society
This spring, Pacific Northwest Conference laity and clergy will have a unique opportunity to meet with and learn from the General Board of Church and Society’s Director of Conference Relations, the Rev. Dr. Clayton Childers. He will speak specifically concerning our United Methodist Social Principles.
Federal Way UMC will host Rev. Childers on Saturday, April 14th. WORKSHOP INFO
Spokane Valley UMC will host Rev. Childers on Saturday, May 12th. WORKSHOP INFO
Click the workshop info links above for more details and a flier for these one day workshops sponsored by the PNW Conference Board of Church and Society and for registration information. Participants will receive a draft copy of the revised Social Principles for their review and have an opportunity to share their impressions at the workshop. A completely revised Social Principles will be presented to the 2020 General Conference.
Click here to download a printable event flier.
About Rev. Dr. Clayton Childers
Rev. Clayton Childers is a Christian educator committed to connecting faith with positive social transformation. For seventeen years he has served as Director of Conference Relations for the General Board of Church and Society, the international public policy and social action agency of the United Methodist Church. He holds degrees from Furman University, Southeastern Seminary, and Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Prior to coming to Washington DC, Childers served for 11 years as a United Methodist pastor in South Carolina. In his current position, Childers has traveled widely, leading training events in 45 of the 55 conferences in the United States and in 25 countries beyond the US.
“Having been raised in Atlanta, Georgia during the civil rights movement and the Viet Nam War,” he says, “we saw the church, I believe, at its best and worst; becoming, at times, a tool of the culture, reinforcing blind patriotism and racial oppression, but then we also saw the church acting as a critical, counter-cultural voice, challenging prevailing views, standing for racial justice and pursuing peace. This is where I saw the Spirit of Christ most alive.”
Rev. Childers is married to Rev. Denise Matz Childers, an elder in the United Methodist Virginia Conference. Together they are the parents of two daughters, Allison and Carly, and the grandparents of Mason, Parker and Ellie.
